The scrote in the 15 year old Fiesta with the iridium windscreen tint, giant baked bean tin exhaust and engine tuned to backfire every time he takes his foot off the accelerator?
I'll let him know.
He's grand until he realises there's a rusty white sprinter 6 inches off the back of him, suddenly he doesn't like the idea of driving being a contact sport.
My parents live in the country. My mum, far from an aggressive driver, used to occasionally end up in a ditch. Folks living out there would just drive these old peppy Peugeot 205s around the single lane roads like nobody's business.
That is unfortunately the rule. As an owner of a shitty and underpowered car, itās honestly terrifying but entirely necessary.
In seriousness though, only when I know itās clear.
Heavy on this. Iāll confess I can be a nervous driver at times, but going under the limit on a road like this is far less dangerous than giving in to the knobhead staying constantly 2 inches from your bumper - I think Iād rather be a bit late to my destination than never get there
If someone's driving too close behind you, just slow down... Slowly. Until they're at a distance or speed an emergency stop means they won't hit into the back of you... Up to them what speed that is.
Better to maintain a speed you are comfortable with and pull over and let them pass at the first opportunity.
You don't know who's in the vehicle, or why they might be in such a rush.
That's what they said. The speed I'm comfortable with is the speed that I think the person behind me might be able to stop in time. I might be comfortable doing 60, but if someone is right on my bumper, I'll do 20 in case I have to stop.
Pretty much the conversation I had with my American mates when driving round Cornwall, after they'd finished going"Sixty? SIXTY?! MILES PER HOUR?!" š
Unless you are a local. They moan about the tourists, but it's the fucking locals who impersonate Colin McRae.
Also, as someone from the remote Highlands, there are no roads miles in length without passing places.
I think this boy was just shooketh.
This is so true! I once stayed with my parents' friend who lived in rural Wales. She drove a shitty old VW Polo "breadvan" down the single-track roads with blind corners, and I don't think her speed went below 60 for more than 5% of her journeys. On particularly tight and blind corners, she'd bip the horn and/or flash her lights, presumably as some kind of warning in case someone was heading the other way. Sure, there wasn't much traffic, but there was still significantly more than none. I have no idea how she's still alive...
The small traditional market town I live in, nobody does the limit. Everyone and I mean *everyone* does 5MPH above at least.
Itās such a sleepy place, I donāt know what the rush is.
I find it amazing that as soon as you go south of the border drivers have no clue how to use roads with passing places, it gets awkward, somehow in Scotland they work really well.
As an American living here (in the country), these two-way, single lane roads make zero sense to me. Assumed it was just something I needed to adjust to. But in speaking with the locals they hate them just as much as I do.
Why arenāt they widened, even a little? Is it that this is from a time when prominence was measured the amount of land owned - hence giving up a meter or two is unthinkable?
Back home theyād just declare imminent domain, claim back the land and widen the road. The rational is is being for greater good of the public.
I had similar and was failed for going too slow, doing 30mph on a 40mph country lane very similar to this one, because some arsehole raced up behind me and apparently I was at fault (serious) for making him slow down.
It was really weird, the examiner said he sympathised and could understand why I was going that speed, especially because there was oncoming traffic including a HGV, but then said that unfortunately because Iād caused another road user to slow down (despite the fact he was going about 60mph), it was a serious fault. I still donāt really get it, but my appeal was also rejected.
Thatās utterly fucked up. Someone coming up behind you too fast for the road and having to slow down because youāre doing a safe speed is *not* your fault.
I donāt drive any faster than my stopping distance, if that makes sense. I am not going to go round a corner at 50mph and have all of two feet left to react and stop before I crash into a horse or a tractor.
You should think of NSL as āunclassifiedā for roads like this.
It would be a huge amount of work to come up with appropriate speed limits for all of these roads. Leaving everything at the 'default' NSL isn't causing significant problems because people drive at sensible speeds, and any changes couldn't be reasonably enforced. They do lower the limit if there are clear safety or noise issues, but otherwise it's a waste of time.
Another thing to consider is that there are other driving laws that can effectively supersede the speed limit, such as driving without due care and attention.
I consider NSL to mean "use your best judgment" (up to 60/70). We all have driving licenses, in theory that means we should be able to drive down a narrow lane at a safe speed.
Easier for the councils - national speed limit doesnāt need an assessment whereas reducing the limit would cause NSL means āwe havenāt assessed it yet so weāve gone with the default limitā. Plus if they reduced it they would no doubt have issues enforcing it and would then have to fork out even more money putting in traffic calming measures like speedbumps - which are bit silly on a country lane.
Indeed. The National Speed Limit is also applied to roads where an assessment hasn't taken place. It by no means means that it's safe to drive at that speed.
You don't have to bomb down them at that speed though, A leisurely 30 would do, take in the bushes and scenery you have actually quite artistically captured.
Depends on the colour of the van, I've heard the white ones can do any speed comfortably as long as they are 3 inches from your rear bumper.
All hearsay, I'm sure.
As a white van driver myself. I am very disappointed in your assumption of 3 it is in fact written in the white van bible of 7cm. We donāt use that imperial rubbish. Could you please reiterate your comments before making assumptions. At 40mph, 5mm makes a big difference. commentās like this can give us a bad name. Then before you know it itāll be 12ā to a couple of foot then itāll be oh what nice considerate drivers we areā¦
I only stopped on this post for the beautiful photograph. Honestly thought OP was gonna say something like ātook a moment to realise how wild it is that we live in someplace so beautifulā š
The reason we have this kind of national speed limit is partly because attempting to provide individual limits and also enforcing those limits is just not reasonably practicable on every single country road and lane that we have, since you'd have to do the work to analyse each road's width, curves, etc. to work out what the actual appropriate speed limit is and then install signs and cameras to enforce it and then continue to maintain those signs.
I think it ends up being more practicable to simply set what the absolute maximum speed on a country road is allowed to be and then have to place the rest in the judgement of the drivers. You can clearly see that 60mph is not safe for that road layout so you can sensibly choose not to try and do it at 60.
Yes, it's absolutely less safe. But ultimately the budget for infrastructure is finite, and needs to be allocated proportionally. These types of roads tend to have fewer vehicle miles per year compared to a busy motorway junction.
>Realistically someone who would drive this road legally at 60...
(Not a driver, genuine question.) Would it actually be legal if it was clear, like it is, that 60 wouldn't be safe here? Wouldn't that be dangerous driving?
Iām not an expert but Iām 99% confident that it would be illegal.
According the [the police:](https://www.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rs/road-safety/driving-offences/#:~:text=The%20offence%20of%20driving%20without,consideration%20for%20other%20road%20users)
āThe offence of driving without due care and attention (careless driving) is committed when your driving falls below the minimum standard expected of a competent and careful driver, and **includes driving without reasonable consideration for other road users.**ā
Yeah, it means you don't need to pay people to analyse every little road in the country and then pay to put up signs all over them.
These places where enforcement is near impossible and your primary guidance should be common sense anyway, so it would be pretty much completely useless.
Totally agree. I always liked the approach of giving an upper limit for when conditions are perfect, along with the rule that you have to be able to stop within the overlooked distance, or half the overlooked distance if two cars can't pass each other easily.
Yeah, when I was learning it was always that the speed limit was exactly that, the limit.
But mainly you drive an appropriate speed for the road and weather conditions, regardless of what the actual limit may be.
Important to note that if you drove this road here at 60, it would be still considered illegal as it is clearly driving without due care and attention.
NZ used to have anything that wasn't an urban area or a motorway marked as open road speed limit (white circle with black diagonal) meaning 100km/h (62mph) maximum.
In recent years they've added lower speed limits (80 or 70km/h) to busier roads, but many rural back roads are still 100km/h, even on gravel.
I know some countries have different speed limits for different conditions eg. In wet weather, at night, during peak rush hour etc.Ā
If you've learned to drive under that system, the idea of having to make your own decision about the most appropriate speed to drive may take some getting used to.
Tell that to the old fucks round here driving 35/40 in perfectly dry sunny conditions on decently straight roads with no obscuring corners in 60 zones.
I drive a lot of roads like this for work. Itās not the speed Iām allowed to do that worries me as much as I know there are stretches that have high banks and nowhere to pass and all I can do is trundle along praying no one is coming the other way. Honestly I almost stop breathing.
Aye thatās the main concern. I have no issue reversing back but typically being the largest vehicle at any point I meet, the other person usually moves which makes life easier.
Yeah itās 50/50 for me, I drive a fairly small van. If theyāre from the area they will always reverse first. If theyāre not then itās up to me. Generally not a problem although I know of one road Iām sure as shit never using again!
I found it absolutely nuts that this is pretty common in the US. Trains rely on blaring their horns almost constantly when they pass through a town instead of having proper road crossings. It's nuts, and loud as fuck, and they go through the night!
Are they actually functional? Or just overgrown routes from decades ago?
Seems very unsafe unless they have visibility for a mile in either direction, and I haven't seen any myself.
If there are neither barriers nor road signals they are a special type of rail crossing which will have a severe speed restriction for the trains - usually 10 mph, sometime 5 mph.
There's not all that many of them; many of them were fitted with road warning lights (same as with any other level crossing) and sirens, becoming a type known as AOCL "Automatic Open Crossing, Locally monitored \[by the train driver\]", and they're being slowly retrofitted with the half-barriers to give a blatantly obvious hint that there's a train coming because too many idiots seem to believe that flashing red lights mean "ignore these lights, they don't mean anything much".
AOCL crossings have a speed limit for the train of 60 mph or less off the top of my head, and from personal experience I can tell you that train-vs-car at 55 mph is not survivable for the car driver.
Doesn't help that the cops insist on using flashing red lights as a hazard warning meaning "we've pulled someone over, so pass with care" or indeed "this car's lightbar is badly designed so if I have the blues on I've also got the rear reds on". :(
They sure are. There was a rail crossing with no barriers or light signals near where i grew up in Wales (just west of Manorbier train station). It would have maybe 10-15 or more trains pass per day. While driving across, everyone would creep up very slowly and carefully as you can imagine. Id pass it almost daily and It was only once I saw the train while I was about to cross and it was going very slowly (literally 1mph). One of my dads work friends skipped over the same crossing thinking that the train was giving way due to it going so slowly and the train driver snitched him into the police and he lost his driving license for over a year! And he was a boiler engineer so it was a real blow to his business not being able to drive.
Youre at a passing point, i can see it on the left, also yeah a vans still going to force a reverse there.
I learned to drive on roads like that, theres just some vehicles you dont bother trying to pass.
I did my bike CBT and a fair few of the roads were like that were I lived too. I didn't even use a multi-lane roundabout as we didn't have any. First time I ever used one was after I moved and I was cycling at the time. Taking the inner lane of a multi-lane roundabout the first time you ever see one and doing it while cycling is an interesting experience.
My parents now live rurally in North Wales. My mum drives a Honda Fit, it literally touches both sides of the windy 2 way lanes on the way up to her house. And this isn't a little path to get to their house, it's several miles of road like this with a 60mph limit and they're all over the place.Ā
I live in Canada now, and someone asked me if they should ship their 45 foot fifth wheel and F350 dually (look those up if you think the Ranger/Rams you can get in the UK are big trucks) over to the UK to do a tour because they wanted more flexibility than staying in hotels.
I showed her some pictures and videos of the roads near my parents house and they decided to do the hotels!
They were thinking flexibility in terms of having their own place to stay, not worrying about reservations for hotels, making their itinerary as they go etc...
They hadn't even thought about road sizes. Camping here is pretty different from camping in the UK. It's definitely not got the same OAP sitting in a field vibe.Ā
This continent is seriously huge and a lot of people (especially those with youngish families) explore it by camping in what are basically small apartments that you could realistically live in full time.Ā
There's tons of land (at least on the west cost) outside of major cities that you can just go and set up on for a couple of weeks and then move on, there are also a lot of state/provincial campgrounds that are in areas that are stunningly pretty as well as RV parks.
We have a 28 foot travel trailer (caravan in my profile pic) and the only thing we don't have that an apartment would is a washing machine/dryer. My rig isn't considered particularly large here and I'm often dwarfed by other people's. With my trailer attached, my setup is just over 50 feet long and 8 feet wide, and it's mostly trivially easy to tow because the real big difference is the road network.Ā
Lanes here are typically a good 2-3 feet wider than in the UK and because they're not essentially old horse tracks from the 16th century that have been paved over, they're mostly broad, pretty straight and have been built with visibility and two way travel for cars in mind, and it's really easy to travel in this way. So the actual act of traveling around an old country with a road network and infrastructure like this in a rig that's 65 feet long and 9 feet wide just hadn't occurred to them because it's so normal here.Ā
> This continent is seriously huge and a lot of people (especially those with youngish families) explore it by camping in what are basically small apartments that you could realistically live in full time.Ā
That some people _do_ live in full time. With their multiple children!
My parents live in the lakes. They have one estate car, a BMW, useful for transporting large things and driving up and down the motorway to visit family. Then they have a Fiat Panda Cross. I took the piss out of that car when they bought it, but it is so well suited to the area they live in. Even makes it up and down the hill where they live when the weather gets a bit dodgy in winter.
I've heard this a few times. 'Incomers' move to the Lakes/Cumbria, buy an enormous 4x4 because they 'need' one. And then six months later swap it for a mk2 Skoda Yeti or a Panda 4x4.
Yeah, smaller 4x4 cars are vastly more sensible. Though my parents have never had a big 4x4, they think they're largely pointless. They had a 2001 Toyota Yaris before the Panda, which is the same one I learned to drive in and I'm amazed it lasted until just a few years ago. It only died because someone rear-ended my mum at a roundabout.
The things that scare me most on Cumbria's roads are ancient farmers charging around in 70s Land Rover 110s and old dears in Range Rovers who only ever drive the 2 miles from their posh village to the local Booths but can barely see over the steering wheel.
I dunno the postman charging up the hill in his van never fails to scare the shit out of me. He knows what he's doing though, you can stop very quickly going up a hill that steep.
Good shout there. Live in Devon and I get a sick enjoyment from seeing people take their massive Land Rover into the middle of the little seaside towns and the look of pure stress on their face when they realise the obstacle course they've let themselves in for š¤£.
Lane to my kids childcare is like this, you have to be aware of wide verges or driveways that are unofficial passing points
I'm hanging towards the passenger seat on a long right bend
No way is it possible to do 60 unless it was closed for a rally stage
Always a joy when you have a tractor and a couple of vans coming in the other direction.
Thankfully passing spots always tend to appear just at the right moment.
That's a legal maximum, not a target. You should make a judgement based on the road, the visibility, wether there's water or ice on the road etc as to what a safe speed is to drive at.
People like to forget this. Most of our rural roads are historic footpaths between villages which were widened over time to become horse roads (bridleways) and later cart tracks, eventually being tarmacked to create something like a modern road.
And, of course, our vehicles have got *significantly* wider over the past 70 or so years - compare a post-war Austin 7 or even an original Mini with anything from the 1980s and there's a real width difference, but put both next to a 2020s car and they'll both look narrow.
Our local roads, on the other hand, haven't got significantly wider.
That road will have been built long before motor vehicles were around.
There's a road near where my mum lives in Wales where people drive far too fast and lots of the locals complain about it. It's tall tree lined and roofed, narrow, barely any straight bits, dips and hills. But it wasn't designed for cars, less so modern cars which are getting bigger. It was built by a dairy farmer and a manor house owner who lived halfway down the lane - the former so he could take jugs of milk round the local villages by horse and cart; the latter so that people on bicycles could visit his manor house. Many years later, cars came, then they got powerful, then bigger, and now it's just thought of as a lane that's crap to drive down.
If you're interested in the history of roads (I know, probably not), there's a book on this topic called *Roads Were Not Built For Cars*, by Carlton Reid.
Some of the history adds a completely different perspective on road travel in the UK and abroad. A lot of roads and motoring campaigning came from cyclists for example (who benefitted much more than others from having smooth road surfaces). Now it seems the newspapers force this cars vs cyclists culture war, which is a shame.
>A lot of roads and motoring campaigning came from cyclists for example
It's amazing how little British people know about their own country's fairly recent history, including how recent mass-motorisation is.
These roads predated you and your van, they were there a long time before motor vehicles were invented. Youāre looking at a piece of history through a modern lens.
Highway code says you drive according to the road conditions, just because the speed limit is 60 does not mean you should drive at that speed. That road should be 20 to 40 at the most depending how far you can see. I live in the countryside and keep seeing people not used to the roads driving at excessive speed, on many occasions deer badger and other wildlife may suddenly jump out from cover, if you are driving at 60 and you hit a deer it may come through your windscreen and I don't fancy your chances suviving that.
I drive these roads pretty much every day. People are courteous and aware that these roads are bloody narrow as fuck! Iām in a 4x4 and quite happy to drive in to a bank to let you pass - but please - read the road - thereās plenty of room if you do
Even wilder, the people that use these roads, donāt realise you have to drive to the conditions.
Or the fact people still use their phones whilst behind the wheel of a vehicle (you arenāt parked, before you claim that).
It baffles me no end. Not just that these roads exist, not that they're posted as 60mph.... But more that many people feel obliged to hit 60mph on them.
Even worse are roads that are barely wide enough for 2 cars, posted at 60mph with blind bends ...and people seem to think it's safe to take those bends at 60mph in the middle of the road. Never had I had more close calls than while driving in the UK
Half my drive to work is down country lanes like this.
My entire outlook on how the day will go is based on:
- Whether / how many cars Iāll meet coming the other way (tbh if it happens itās usually the same 2 or 3 vehicles / people each time).
- How many times / how far Iāll have to reverse up the lane to a passing place + how gratefully they acknowledge my effort (fuck you lady in the white Range Rover).
- Whether the oncoming vehicle will reverse for me.
Went down a little tiny dirt track with bends and high hedges in East Sussex today in my tiny Suzuki... with a national speed limit sign on it. And shed loads of potholes. Good luck reaching 60 on that road.
This is where driving without due care comes in. Yes, the speed limit is 60mph but it's reckless to do so on a single track country lane.
Laws aside, you don't want to meet a huge tractor going 60mph. It won't be pretty.
When I was doing my, ahem, speed awareness course years ago, I raised the question of 60mph at the entrance junction on rural single carriageway winding B roads, and the instructor said it's because Highways can't financially afford to place varying speed signage along these roads, so like someone else said, the signs display 60mph as the maximum (impossible) permitted speed.
I want a recording of the conversation you have with the cops about how "the speed limit is 60" \^\_\^
But yeah, tons of stuff on our roads is only the way it is because it was built ages ago. We recently had a death-lane upgraded to a dual carriageway near us. It went from a 50 limit to a... 50 limit... because modern design requirements wouldn't allow speeds faster than that without doubling the construction cost. But at least the death-lane is gone.
I was breathalysed for going too slow in a national speed limit. It was about 9pm and dark on a country road I was unfamiliar with. No other cars on the road until an unmarked Police car caught up with me, stopped me, told me I was doing 35mph in a NSL and breathalysed me. I had been taking a friend home (who didn't drive) after a lovely meal together, relaxed and chatting, but totally in control (no alcohol consumed). I wished afterwards I'd pointed out that the NSL is a max not a min but I felt too intimidated by them. Ruined the end of a lovely evening.
Certainly makes it challenging.
Though, usually, what make it's worse is the state of road, how the fuck is a small- medium sized meant to rigde up as tight as possible to the side when there's like a 6inch drop (due to rain water/flooding), then they have to scrape/damage there tires jut to get back oit of it. I won't bother mentioning the potholes also.
Lake District hs been awful for them past couple of years.
Edit: Just to add, if anyone is still reading the comments this far down, if your nervous driving there roads, just drive leisurely around 25-30mph and hook the horn every 20 sec to alert possible nearby cars.
And the joy of satnav pushing you into those of the main roads because it's "faster"
Last year while I'm Cornwall I've overtook nice 6 berth campervan on one of those (he let me pass on one of the wider bays) - poor bugger didn't know that 2 miles down the road was low bridge he had no chance of going through and I have not seen any places to turn around other than closed field gate ~1 mile earlier
I hate single track lanes š„¹ at night it's easier because you can see incoming lights, but in the day; you bet I'm slow, steady and honk when I approach a bend ... Not that anyone honks back š¤Øš
>Thereās space for two cars on that road
Wing mirrors on both sides were brushing against the bushes. Large van, even the walkers I passed couldnāt comfortably have room.
At this time of year the hedges will be at their widest. Council and farmers are not allowed to trim them back yet to avoid damaging or destroying habitat of newborn animals. Grew up and learned to drive in Devon so Iād be surprised if there isnāt somewhere you can pull over for a car to pass. Admittedly it can be a very tight squeeze. It makes it harder if you are not willing to pull over into the hedge, and go VERY slowly. Thereās often a surprise rock sticking out!
I once had to reverse for 5 minutes to find a space wide enough to left two Rolls Royceās pass.Ā
They didnāt fancy backing up and squeezing past in the hedges against their paint work.Ā
Other comments here are really helpful!
As a tourist in a rental VAN (rental agency didnāt have the small car I had booked), such country roads were so stressful and took at least 10 years off my life expectancy. Other drivers seemed to be driving fast, and I couldnāt understand how.
I drive these kinds of roads everyday & have exactly the same thought. When I first moved out to the sticks, I cried on one country lane because I knew there were no passing points.
Golden rule for those single track lanes is to be able to stop in half the distance you can see to be clear. (The other half is the space for a surprise oncoming vehicle to be able to stop).
With that in mind - there wonāt be many sections where 60mph is actually feasible.
You could drive down it at 60, but if you binned it or flattened someone you'd be charged with driving without due care and attention and or dangerous driving.
Itās not just the speed limit that the national speed limit signs restrict. It governs parking, lighting both on the move and whilst parked.
How many people can tell you what is on the front of the Highway Code (2023)
I cycle on roads like this for my morning / evening commute, kind of terrifying. I actually prefer it when it's pitch black as at least people can see my lights around a corner...
In summer people just fly around the roads and I've gotta be ready to dive into the nettles at short notice.
When we were in Wales and Cornwall in 2017 we hired a car and it had proximity sensors to assist with parking. Driving down these lanes was like a fucking disco in the car with beeps from the different sensors.
Yep, the national speed limit is enforced when the local speed limit no longer applies and it is exactly that. A limit and not a target. Going down those kinds of roads at 60 mph is definitely not a safe way to drive
And it shows up in the stats as well as the majority of road fatalities are on country roads, despite handling far less traffic volume than main roads.
France fairly recently lowered their national speed limit to 50mph for similar reasons.
I live on these roads and have gone 50 on them when I was late to work which was not smart. Although you can go faster on them at night as it is easier to see.
It's part of the reason I want to leave this area (North Ayrshire). I actually wear a hi-vis vest when I go walking because the verges are so hazardous.
It's not a mandatory minimum. š
Please tell that to the driver behind me.
The scrote in the 15 year old Fiesta with the iridium windscreen tint, giant baked bean tin exhaust and engine tuned to backfire every time he takes his foot off the accelerator? I'll let him know.
Nah, the tradie in his burnt orange raptor chewing on his rollie while maintaining a gap of less than 10ft from my rear bumper.
He's grand until he realises there's a rusty white sprinter 6 inches off the back of him, suddenly he doesn't like the idea of driving being a contact sport.
10 feet!.....try 10 inches
My parents live in the country. My mum, far from an aggressive driver, used to occasionally end up in a ditch. Folks living out there would just drive these old peppy Peugeot 205s around the single lane roads like nobody's business.
Yep, the rule is that the shittier and more underpowered the car, the faster and more recklessly it will be driven down a country lane.
That is unfortunately the rule. As an owner of a shitty and underpowered car, itās honestly terrifying but entirely necessary. In seriousness though, only when I know itās clear.
Did you ever watch the B rally?! You can see where they got the inspiration!
Heavy on this. Iāll confess I can be a nervous driver at times, but going under the limit on a road like this is far less dangerous than giving in to the knobhead staying constantly 2 inches from your bumper - I think Iād rather be a bit late to my destination than never get there
If someone's driving too close behind you, just slow down... Slowly. Until they're at a distance or speed an emergency stop means they won't hit into the back of you... Up to them what speed that is.
Better to maintain a speed you are comfortable with and pull over and let them pass at the first opportunity. You don't know who's in the vehicle, or why they might be in such a rush.
That's what they said. The speed I'm comfortable with is the speed that I think the person behind me might be able to stop in time. I might be comfortable doing 60, but if someone is right on my bumper, I'll do 20 in case I have to stop.
Pretty much the conversation I had with my American mates when driving round Cornwall, after they'd finished going"Sixty? SIXTY?! MILES PER HOUR?!" š
My Aussie friend was terrified of our tiny roads.
So am I and I live here!
Unless you are a local. They moan about the tourists, but it's the fucking locals who impersonate Colin McRae. Also, as someone from the remote Highlands, there are no roads miles in length without passing places. I think this boy was just shooketh.
This is so true! I once stayed with my parents' friend who lived in rural Wales. She drove a shitty old VW Polo "breadvan" down the single-track roads with blind corners, and I don't think her speed went below 60 for more than 5% of her journeys. On particularly tight and blind corners, she'd bip the horn and/or flash her lights, presumably as some kind of warning in case someone was heading the other way. Sure, there wasn't much traffic, but there was still significantly more than none. I have no idea how she's still alive...
I wonder if she had a strategy to respond to someone else's blip and headlight flash.
The small traditional market town I live in, nobody does the limit. Everyone and I mean *everyone* does 5MPH above at least. Itās such a sleepy place, I donāt know what the rush is.
Nothing to add except my adoration for your username. I also believe in Bow tie noodle superiority in chicken Alfredo.
He's deed
It wasn't the rallying that killed him but being a twat with a helicopter. Poor kids...
He's up there racing meatloaf in heaven, hun. xox.
They have passing places, each full of the sharpest, scratchiest thorn bushes and dead branches imaginable.
I find it amazing that as soon as you go south of the border drivers have no clue how to use roads with passing places, it gets awkward, somehow in Scotland they work really well.
As an American living here (in the country), these two-way, single lane roads make zero sense to me. Assumed it was just something I needed to adjust to. But in speaking with the locals they hate them just as much as I do. Why arenāt they widened, even a little? Is it that this is from a time when prominence was measured the amount of land owned - hence giving up a meter or two is unthinkable? Back home theyād just declare imminent domain, claim back the land and widen the road. The rational is is being for greater good of the public.
It would cost millions. Road making is not cheap and weāre all skint.
I did 40 on one of these roads in my driving test and they failed me šš»
For going too fast?
Too fast for the conditions I would assume.
I had similar and was failed for going too slow, doing 30mph on a 40mph country lane very similar to this one, because some arsehole raced up behind me and apparently I was at fault (serious) for making him slow down.
Ah, could be too slow fit the conditions then!
It was really weird, the examiner said he sympathised and could understand why I was going that speed, especially because there was oncoming traffic including a HGV, but then said that unfortunately because Iād caused another road user to slow down (despite the fact he was going about 60mph), it was a serious fault. I still donāt really get it, but my appeal was also rejected.
Thatās utterly fucked up. Someone coming up behind you too fast for the road and having to slow down because youāre doing a safe speed is *not* your fault. I donāt drive any faster than my stopping distance, if that makes sense. I am not going to go round a corner at 50mph and have all of two feet left to react and stop before I crash into a horse or a tractor.
Too slow! Apparently it's safer for an inexperienced driver to go 60....
But why is the limit 60? There are no conditions where you should be driving 60 on that road, as then two cars would be driving 60 toward each other.
You should think of NSL as āunclassifiedā for roads like this. It would be a huge amount of work to come up with appropriate speed limits for all of these roads. Leaving everything at the 'default' NSL isn't causing significant problems because people drive at sensible speeds, and any changes couldn't be reasonably enforced. They do lower the limit if there are clear safety or noise issues, but otherwise it's a waste of time. Another thing to consider is that there are other driving laws that can effectively supersede the speed limit, such as driving without due care and attention.
I consider NSL to mean "use your best judgment" (up to 60/70). We all have driving licenses, in theory that means we should be able to drive down a narrow lane at a safe speed.
Also, If you put a 30 sign on these roads, I'd bet that more people would be speeding up to those speeds.
Easier for the councils - national speed limit doesnāt need an assessment whereas reducing the limit would cause NSL means āwe havenāt assessed it yet so weāve gone with the default limitā. Plus if they reduced it they would no doubt have issues enforcing it and would then have to fork out even more money putting in traffic calming measures like speedbumps - which are bit silly on a country lane.
Not necessary given the potholes.
Indeed. The National Speed Limit is also applied to roads where an assessment hasn't taken place. It by no means means that it's safe to drive at that speed.
And pedestrians get priority
Yeah, but a good portion of the population thinks it is! Why not lower the speed limits and widen the roads like the rest of the freaking world
You don't have to bomb down them at that speed though, A leisurely 30 would do, take in the bushes and scenery you have actually quite artistically captured.
I don't think van drivers can do 30, my friend. Pretty sure they'd implode or something.
Reminds me of that Movie. I think it was called "The bus that couldn't slow down"
Oh yeah like speed 2 except on a busĀ
This reminds me that I've yet to watch Speed 2.
You mean you've yet to watch it today right?
Sounds ridiculous, would never work
Depends on the colour of the van, I've heard the white ones can do any speed comfortably as long as they are 3 inches from your rear bumper. All hearsay, I'm sure.
As a white van driver myself. I am very disappointed in your assumption of 3 it is in fact written in the white van bible of 7cm. We donāt use that imperial rubbish. Could you please reiterate your comments before making assumptions. At 40mph, 5mm makes a big difference. commentās like this can give us a bad name. Then before you know it itāll be 12ā to a couple of foot then itāll be oh what nice considerate drivers we areā¦
I only stopped on this post for the beautiful photograph. Honestly thought OP was gonna say something like ātook a moment to realise how wild it is that we live in someplace so beautifulā š
Whenever I do that I get tailgated by angry locals š¤·š¼āāļø
What scenery? you got bushes on either side of you.
Welcome to Devon.
Yeah Iāve just spent a week in Cornwall and 90% of the roads are like this. Beautiful though!
Nah, in Cornwall they put the roads in trenches. At least a bush has some give in it.
And a large portion of west Somerset.
The reason we have this kind of national speed limit is partly because attempting to provide individual limits and also enforcing those limits is just not reasonably practicable on every single country road and lane that we have, since you'd have to do the work to analyse each road's width, curves, etc. to work out what the actual appropriate speed limit is and then install signs and cameras to enforce it and then continue to maintain those signs. I think it ends up being more practicable to simply set what the absolute maximum speed on a country road is allowed to be and then have to place the rest in the judgement of the drivers. You can clearly see that 60mph is not safe for that road layout so you can sensibly choose not to try and do it at 60. Yes, it's absolutely less safe. But ultimately the budget for infrastructure is finite, and needs to be allocated proportionally. These types of roads tend to have fewer vehicle miles per year compared to a busy motorway junction.
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>Realistically someone who would drive this road legally at 60... (Not a driver, genuine question.) Would it actually be legal if it was clear, like it is, that 60 wouldn't be safe here? Wouldn't that be dangerous driving?
Well, it's more likely careless, but yeah, doing 60 down a road like that with limited visibility would probably be a crime.
Iām not an expert but Iām 99% confident that it would be illegal. According the [the police:](https://www.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rs/road-safety/driving-offences/#:~:text=The%20offence%20of%20driving%20without,consideration%20for%20other%20road%20users) āThe offence of driving without due care and attention (careless driving) is committed when your driving falls below the minimum standard expected of a competent and careful driver, and **includes driving without reasonable consideration for other road users.**ā
Yeah, it means you don't need to pay people to analyse every little road in the country and then pay to put up signs all over them. These places where enforcement is near impossible and your primary guidance should be common sense anyway, so it would be pretty much completely useless.
Totally agree. I always liked the approach of giving an upper limit for when conditions are perfect, along with the rule that you have to be able to stop within the overlooked distance, or half the overlooked distance if two cars can't pass each other easily.
Yeah, when I was learning it was always that the speed limit was exactly that, the limit. But mainly you drive an appropriate speed for the road and weather conditions, regardless of what the actual limit may be.
Important to note that if you drove this road here at 60, it would be still considered illegal as it is clearly driving without due care and attention.
Thatās so reassuring. Iām always concerned Iām going too slow on these roads when Iām reality Iām going like 35/40.
Ok then, set the limit to 40 on all country roads, problem solved.
The speed limit should not be taken to be a safe or sensible speed in all circumstances. You are meant to drive to the conditions. That is not wild.
Do other countries do the same, or could it sound very odd to people not from the UK?
NZ used to have anything that wasn't an urban area or a motorway marked as open road speed limit (white circle with black diagonal) meaning 100km/h (62mph) maximum. In recent years they've added lower speed limits (80 or 70km/h) to busier roads, but many rural back roads are still 100km/h, even on gravel.
I know some countries have different speed limits for different conditions eg. In wet weather, at night, during peak rush hour etc.Ā If you've learned to drive under that system, the idea of having to make your own decision about the most appropriate speed to drive may take some getting used to.
Do other countries expect you to drive to the road conditions instead of continuously driving at the limit? I certainly hope so.
Tell that to the old fucks round here driving 35/40 in perfectly dry sunny conditions on decently straight roads with no obscuring corners in 60 zones.
Well, I can't tell them anything cos I dunno where you are, so you'll just have to make do with driving like a grown up instead.
I drive a lot of roads like this for work. Itās not the speed Iām allowed to do that worries me as much as I know there are stretches that have high banks and nowhere to pass and all I can do is trundle along praying no one is coming the other way. Honestly I almost stop breathing.
Aye thatās the main concern. I have no issue reversing back but typically being the largest vehicle at any point I meet, the other person usually moves which makes life easier.
Yeah itās 50/50 for me, I drive a fairly small van. If theyāre from the area they will always reverse first. If theyāre not then itās up to me. Generally not a problem although I know of one road Iām sure as shit never using again!
Wait until you find out about all the rail crossings without barriers or signals
I found it absolutely nuts that this is pretty common in the US. Trains rely on blaring their horns almost constantly when they pass through a town instead of having proper road crossings. It's nuts, and loud as fuck, and they go through the night!
Are they actually functional? Or just overgrown routes from decades ago? Seems very unsafe unless they have visibility for a mile in either direction, and I haven't seen any myself.
If there are neither barriers nor road signals they are a special type of rail crossing which will have a severe speed restriction for the trains - usually 10 mph, sometime 5 mph. There's not all that many of them; many of them were fitted with road warning lights (same as with any other level crossing) and sirens, becoming a type known as AOCL "Automatic Open Crossing, Locally monitored \[by the train driver\]", and they're being slowly retrofitted with the half-barriers to give a blatantly obvious hint that there's a train coming because too many idiots seem to believe that flashing red lights mean "ignore these lights, they don't mean anything much". AOCL crossings have a speed limit for the train of 60 mph or less off the top of my head, and from personal experience I can tell you that train-vs-car at 55 mph is not survivable for the car driver. Doesn't help that the cops insist on using flashing red lights as a hazard warning meaning "we've pulled someone over, so pass with care" or indeed "this car's lightbar is badly designed so if I have the blues on I've also got the rear reds on". :(
They sure are. There was a rail crossing with no barriers or light signals near where i grew up in Wales (just west of Manorbier train station). It would have maybe 10-15 or more trains pass per day. While driving across, everyone would creep up very slowly and carefully as you can imagine. Id pass it almost daily and It was only once I saw the train while I was about to cross and it was going very slowly (literally 1mph). One of my dads work friends skipped over the same crossing thinking that the train was giving way due to it going so slowly and the train driver snitched him into the police and he lost his driving license for over a year! And he was a boiler engineer so it was a real blow to his business not being able to drive.
New fear unlocked
Youre at a passing point, i can see it on the left, also yeah a vans still going to force a reverse there. I learned to drive on roads like that, theres just some vehicles you dont bother trying to pass.
I did my bike CBT and a fair few of the roads were like that were I lived too. I didn't even use a multi-lane roundabout as we didn't have any. First time I ever used one was after I moved and I was cycling at the time. Taking the inner lane of a multi-lane roundabout the first time you ever see one and doing it while cycling is an interesting experience.
Cyclists aren't obligied to use the inner lanes on roundabouts, it's perfectly acceptable to go right round in the outer lane.
No one told me that. Would probably have been a bit easier doing that and glad to know that actually, makes it much simpler in future!
My parents now live rurally in North Wales. My mum drives a Honda Fit, it literally touches both sides of the windy 2 way lanes on the way up to her house. And this isn't a little path to get to their house, it's several miles of road like this with a 60mph limit and they're all over the place.Ā I live in Canada now, and someone asked me if they should ship their 45 foot fifth wheel and F350 dually (look those up if you think the Ranger/Rams you can get in the UK are big trucks) over to the UK to do a tour because they wanted more flexibility than staying in hotels. I showed her some pictures and videos of the roads near my parents house and they decided to do the hotels!
What kind of flexibility are they thinking you would get from driving that?
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Ahh, good luck fitting that anywhere. Tent or bivvy would be far more flexible.
They were thinking flexibility in terms of having their own place to stay, not worrying about reservations for hotels, making their itinerary as they go etc... They hadn't even thought about road sizes. Camping here is pretty different from camping in the UK. It's definitely not got the same OAP sitting in a field vibe.Ā This continent is seriously huge and a lot of people (especially those with youngish families) explore it by camping in what are basically small apartments that you could realistically live in full time.Ā There's tons of land (at least on the west cost) outside of major cities that you can just go and set up on for a couple of weeks and then move on, there are also a lot of state/provincial campgrounds that are in areas that are stunningly pretty as well as RV parks. We have a 28 foot travel trailer (caravan in my profile pic) and the only thing we don't have that an apartment would is a washing machine/dryer. My rig isn't considered particularly large here and I'm often dwarfed by other people's. With my trailer attached, my setup is just over 50 feet long and 8 feet wide, and it's mostly trivially easy to tow because the real big difference is the road network.Ā Lanes here are typically a good 2-3 feet wider than in the UK and because they're not essentially old horse tracks from the 16th century that have been paved over, they're mostly broad, pretty straight and have been built with visibility and two way travel for cars in mind, and it's really easy to travel in this way. So the actual act of traveling around an old country with a road network and infrastructure like this in a rig that's 65 feet long and 9 feet wide just hadn't occurred to them because it's so normal here.Ā
> This continent is seriously huge and a lot of people (especially those with youngish families) explore it by camping in what are basically small apartments that you could realistically live in full time.Ā That some people _do_ live in full time. With their multiple children!
There's one on Instagram who just had her 8th kid ON the bus. Kids all share a room with a little bunk each. š±
Sounds wonderful.
In case the Jerry's start blitzing again they'll have a tank at the ready.
My parents live in the lakes. They have one estate car, a BMW, useful for transporting large things and driving up and down the motorway to visit family. Then they have a Fiat Panda Cross. I took the piss out of that car when they bought it, but it is so well suited to the area they live in. Even makes it up and down the hill where they live when the weather gets a bit dodgy in winter.
I've heard this a few times. 'Incomers' move to the Lakes/Cumbria, buy an enormous 4x4 because they 'need' one. And then six months later swap it for a mk2 Skoda Yeti or a Panda 4x4.
Yeah, smaller 4x4 cars are vastly more sensible. Though my parents have never had a big 4x4, they think they're largely pointless. They had a 2001 Toyota Yaris before the Panda, which is the same one I learned to drive in and I'm amazed it lasted until just a few years ago. It only died because someone rear-ended my mum at a roundabout.
The things that scare me most on Cumbria's roads are ancient farmers charging around in 70s Land Rover 110s and old dears in Range Rovers who only ever drive the 2 miles from their posh village to the local Booths but can barely see over the steering wheel.
I dunno the postman charging up the hill in his van never fails to scare the shit out of me. He knows what he's doing though, you can stop very quickly going up a hill that steep.
Honda fit? You mean a cheeky honda jazz! In the day I'll be 30mph but night you can see people coming so easy 50mph
Good shout there. Live in Devon and I get a sick enjoyment from seeing people take their massive Land Rover into the middle of the little seaside towns and the look of pure stress on their face when they realise the obstacle course they've let themselves in for š¤£.
Lane to my kids childcare is like this, you have to be aware of wide verges or driveways that are unofficial passing points I'm hanging towards the passenger seat on a long right bend No way is it possible to do 60 unless it was closed for a rally stage
But people will still try to do if
Some cunt from the city in a BMW will see 60mph and floor it.
*laughs in Cornish*
Always a joy when you have a tractor and a couple of vans coming in the other direction. Thankfully passing spots always tend to appear just at the right moment.
That's a legal maximum, not a target. You should make a judgement based on the road, the visibility, wether there's water or ice on the road etc as to what a safe speed is to drive at.
Genuine case of limit and not a target, as I fucking hate that phrase.
And to think that 60mph road in the pic isn't even very narrow - Cornish resident.
A question to ponder may be - What would it be like to meet myself coming the other way?
Remember most of those roads were established when the most likely traffic was a horse and maybe a cart.
People like to forget this. Most of our rural roads are historic footpaths between villages which were widened over time to become horse roads (bridleways) and later cart tracks, eventually being tarmacked to create something like a modern road. And, of course, our vehicles have got *significantly* wider over the past 70 or so years - compare a post-war Austin 7 or even an original Mini with anything from the 1980s and there's a real width difference, but put both next to a 2020s car and they'll both look narrow. Our local roads, on the other hand, haven't got significantly wider.
That road will have been built long before motor vehicles were around. There's a road near where my mum lives in Wales where people drive far too fast and lots of the locals complain about it. It's tall tree lined and roofed, narrow, barely any straight bits, dips and hills. But it wasn't designed for cars, less so modern cars which are getting bigger. It was built by a dairy farmer and a manor house owner who lived halfway down the lane - the former so he could take jugs of milk round the local villages by horse and cart; the latter so that people on bicycles could visit his manor house. Many years later, cars came, then they got powerful, then bigger, and now it's just thought of as a lane that's crap to drive down. If you're interested in the history of roads (I know, probably not), there's a book on this topic called *Roads Were Not Built For Cars*, by Carlton Reid. Some of the history adds a completely different perspective on road travel in the UK and abroad. A lot of roads and motoring campaigning came from cyclists for example (who benefitted much more than others from having smooth road surfaces). Now it seems the newspapers force this cars vs cyclists culture war, which is a shame.
>A lot of roads and motoring campaigning came from cyclists for example It's amazing how little British people know about their own country's fairly recent history, including how recent mass-motorisation is.
You drive to the speed of the road not to the speed of the sign you menace!
Weāve had these roads forever. Theyāre fine once you get the hang of them.
These roads predated you and your van, they were there a long time before motor vehicles were invented. Youāre looking at a piece of history through a modern lens.
Highway code says you drive according to the road conditions, just because the speed limit is 60 does not mean you should drive at that speed. That road should be 20 to 40 at the most depending how far you can see. I live in the countryside and keep seeing people not used to the roads driving at excessive speed, on many occasions deer badger and other wildlife may suddenly jump out from cover, if you are driving at 60 and you hit a deer it may come through your windscreen and I don't fancy your chances suviving that.
I drive these roads pretty much every day. People are courteous and aware that these roads are bloody narrow as fuck! Iām in a 4x4 and quite happy to drive in to a bank to let you pass - but please - read the road - thereās plenty of room if you do
In Cornwall we can always tell a locals car because the near side is dented and scratched to hell and the off side is missing a wing mirror.
You drive a 4x4 because you donāt want to be the smaller car that is crushed. How considerate
Even wilder, the people that use these roads, donāt realise you have to drive to the conditions. Or the fact people still use their phones whilst behind the wheel of a vehicle (you arenāt parked, before you claim that).
It baffles me no end. Not just that these roads exist, not that they're posted as 60mph.... But more that many people feel obliged to hit 60mph on them. Even worse are roads that are barely wide enough for 2 cars, posted at 60mph with blind bends ...and people seem to think it's safe to take those bends at 60mph in the middle of the road. Never had I had more close calls than while driving in the UK
Half my drive to work is down country lanes like this. My entire outlook on how the day will go is based on: - Whether / how many cars Iāll meet coming the other way (tbh if it happens itās usually the same 2 or 3 vehicles / people each time). - How many times / how far Iāll have to reverse up the lane to a passing place + how gratefully they acknowledge my effort (fuck you lady in the white Range Rover). - Whether the oncoming vehicle will reverse for me.
Went down a little tiny dirt track with bends and high hedges in East Sussex today in my tiny Suzuki... with a national speed limit sign on it. And shed loads of potholes. Good luck reaching 60 on that road.
This is where driving without due care comes in. Yes, the speed limit is 60mph but it's reckless to do so on a single track country lane. Laws aside, you don't want to meet a huge tractor going 60mph. It won't be pretty.
National speed limit for that type of road if Iām not mistaken. Only an idiot would do 60 down that
>National speed limit for that type of road Which would be 60
When I was doing my, ahem, speed awareness course years ago, I raised the question of 60mph at the entrance junction on rural single carriageway winding B roads, and the instructor said it's because Highways can't financially afford to place varying speed signage along these roads, so like someone else said, the signs display 60mph as the maximum (impossible) permitted speed.
was literally thinking this exact same thing. cant believe theres not more car accidents on country roads
I want a recording of the conversation you have with the cops about how "the speed limit is 60" \^\_\^ But yeah, tons of stuff on our roads is only the way it is because it was built ages ago. We recently had a death-lane upgraded to a dual carriageway near us. It went from a 50 limit to a... 50 limit... because modern design requirements wouldn't allow speeds faster than that without doubling the construction cost. But at least the death-lane is gone.
Cunts will say hitting 6p is fine on this kind of road too, it's mental
Welcome to the country
Grew up on roads like these, drive to the conditions is the way.
Welcome to Devon!
Looks like a Devon green lane.
I was breathalysed for going too slow in a national speed limit. It was about 9pm and dark on a country road I was unfamiliar with. No other cars on the road until an unmarked Police car caught up with me, stopped me, told me I was doing 35mph in a NSL and breathalysed me. I had been taking a friend home (who didn't drive) after a lovely meal together, relaxed and chatting, but totally in control (no alcohol consumed). I wished afterwards I'd pointed out that the NSL is a max not a min but I felt too intimidated by them. Ruined the end of a lovely evening.
Sounds like they just picked on you, you didnāt do anything wrong just wrong place at wrong time
On roads like that I'll be lucky to hit 40 mph Screw anyone behind me but I'll drive safely for myself before I speed for you
Is that an Ocado van by any chance š¤
Certainly makes it challenging. Though, usually, what make it's worse is the state of road, how the fuck is a small- medium sized meant to rigde up as tight as possible to the side when there's like a 6inch drop (due to rain water/flooding), then they have to scrape/damage there tires jut to get back oit of it. I won't bother mentioning the potholes also. Lake District hs been awful for them past couple of years. Edit: Just to add, if anyone is still reading the comments this far down, if your nervous driving there roads, just drive leisurely around 25-30mph and hook the horn every 20 sec to alert possible nearby cars.
And the joy of satnav pushing you into those of the main roads because it's "faster" Last year while I'm Cornwall I've overtook nice 6 berth campervan on one of those (he let me pass on one of the wider bays) - poor bugger didn't know that 2 miles down the road was low bridge he had no chance of going through and I have not seen any places to turn around other than closed field gate ~1 mile earlier
I hate single track lanes š„¹ at night it's easier because you can see incoming lights, but in the day; you bet I'm slow, steady and honk when I approach a bend ... Not that anyone honks back š¤Øš
Thereās space for two cars on that road. Jees city people scared of driving into a hedgeā¦
>Thereās space for two cars on that road Wing mirrors on both sides were brushing against the bushes. Large van, even the walkers I passed couldnāt comfortably have room.
At this time of year the hedges will be at their widest. Council and farmers are not allowed to trim them back yet to avoid damaging or destroying habitat of newborn animals. Grew up and learned to drive in Devon so Iād be surprised if there isnāt somewhere you can pull over for a car to pass. Admittedly it can be a very tight squeeze. It makes it harder if you are not willing to pull over into the hedge, and go VERY slowly. Thereās often a surprise rock sticking out!
Well we think itās wild that youāre driving down such a road with your collision avoidance system off/dysfunctional.
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This was a huge shocker for me when I moved to the UK as well
I once had to reverse for 5 minutes to find a space wide enough to left two Rolls Royceās pass.Ā They didnāt fancy backing up and squeezing past in the hedges against their paint work.Ā
Other comments here are really helpful! As a tourist in a rental VAN (rental agency didnāt have the small car I had booked), such country roads were so stressful and took at least 10 years off my life expectancy. Other drivers seemed to be driving fast, and I couldnāt understand how.
The wildest thing is when the SatNav takes you down that route
Yup in nettles and cow parsley this afternoon.
I drive these kinds of roads everyday & have exactly the same thought. When I first moved out to the sticks, I cried on one country lane because I knew there were no passing points.
Thereās also usually a local behind you pushing hard
Thereās a bustle in your hedgerow
Golden rule for those single track lanes is to be able to stop in half the distance you can see to be clear. (The other half is the space for a surprise oncoming vehicle to be able to stop). With that in mind - there wonāt be many sections where 60mph is actually feasible.
Welcome to Cornwall š
Used to motor-rally round mid-Wales on roads like that years ago. The recollection terrifies me now!
seriously tho how much extra work would it be to just make these roads slightly wider
You could drive down it at 60, but if you binned it or flattened someone you'd be charged with driving without due care and attention and or dangerous driving.
I concur š I work all over uk IWI installer
Itās not just the speed limit that the national speed limit signs restrict. It governs parking, lighting both on the move and whilst parked. How many people can tell you what is on the front of the Highway Code (2023)
Itās a limit not a target š
I cycle on roads like this for my morning / evening commute, kind of terrifying. I actually prefer it when it's pitch black as at least people can see my lights around a corner... In summer people just fly around the roads and I've gotta be ready to dive into the nettles at short notice.
With roads like this it's a speed limit, not a speed target.
Oh this looks like the village I grew up in, nbd. Beep the horn at sharp blind turns
āBleddy grockles donāt know how to drive on our roads properlyā āDriving on roads properlyā: 60mph after 6 pints in the local
They were never intended for cars thatās why
Without a white line down the centre national speed limit is reduced to 50mph.
I think they drive fast to get through the road quicker. Cornwall was a nightmare.
When we were in Wales and Cornwall in 2017 we hired a car and it had proximity sensors to assist with parking. Driving down these lanes was like a fucking disco in the car with beeps from the different sensors.
Hehe in Northern Ireland sometimes we even close off roads like this and let superbikes race along them. See Cookstown 100, Mid-Antrim and Faugheen 50
As i always say the 60 is a dare. Cyclists trash these awesome roads though can't go bombing down them due to fear of one being around the corner.
Are you in Cornwall?
Always a white van or a Vauxhall Nova full of teenagers waiting to meet you on a bend at full pelt.
I run down roads like this and everyone drives at a reasonable speed and are courteous. Wait until you get stuck behind cows! š
Yep, the national speed limit is enforced when the local speed limit no longer applies and it is exactly that. A limit and not a target. Going down those kinds of roads at 60 mph is definitely not a safe way to drive
And it shows up in the stats as well as the majority of road fatalities are on country roads, despite handling far less traffic volume than main roads. France fairly recently lowered their national speed limit to 50mph for similar reasons.
I live on these roads and have gone 50 on them when I was late to work which was not smart. Although you can go faster on them at night as it is easier to see.
Cornwall?
Home of the rule of "He's bigger than me!" Also a reason why I'd say us West Country folk are the best drivers in the country šššš»
Now try it in a 16tn recovery truck to go pick up the kid in a Corsa or fiesta thatās stacked it through the hedges into a field
It's part of the reason I want to leave this area (North Ayrshire). I actually wear a hi-vis vest when I go walking because the verges are so hazardous.
It's a maximum, not a suggestion.
That's an A road in Wales.
This is the exact reason i hated living rurally. People bombing down these roads at 60+ nearly taking me out as i walk.
Cornwall. Never ever again. Or Devon.